Brandon Alvarado tames Sabeel Foster in Boy’s Singles semi-finals - MBBC Jr. International Update
Guatemala’s talented shuttler Brandon Alvarado continued his uninterrupted run in Boy’s Singles Under-17 category and secured a berth in final round of MBBC Jr. International on July 18, 2012.
He intercepted Sabeel Foster of Barbados with a favourable result of 21-19, 11-21 and 21-11 after three hard fought games.
This semi-final encounter kept the audience glued to their chairs in the local badminton arena of Manhattan Beach, California as both contenders put breath-taking performance throughout this fight.
However, Brandon displayed superior fighting skills and stole the lime-light with his thriving effort in the first and last set of the match.
The Guatemala player set the ball rolling straight in opening game when he prevailed in four nonstop rallies immediately after 3-2 total.
This early four-point advantage helped him to maintain the upper hand until half time and he placed a respectable figure of 11-6 before interval.
After the mid-game break, the Barbados campaigner picked up some pace and narrowed the gap with 11-13.
Sabeel Foster, who was seeded second in this event, built pressure by establishing a comfortable lead in the third quarter of the set but he could not go with the same flow in next couple of rallies.
Brandon reclaimed his authority and bagged first match point with a tight yet decisive margin of 21-19.
The following game changed the scenario as the losing shuttler of the first set rose from the dust and won second set of match.
This time he did not waste time and launched a brisk attack to establish an immediate lead. He thrashed his rival in five rallies in a row and placed a mountainous total of 11-5 before the break.
Sabeel did not show any mercy in the second half and finished crucial set with a huge difference of ten points in 21-11 score.
The decider was just a replay of the previous game but in reverse manner as the shuttler from Guatemala cornered his competitor with a striking knock. He cleared the second last round of the event with convincing figure of 21-11.
Now, Brandon stands a fair chance to claim the crown as his next challenger will be lower ranked compatriot shuttler Ruben Castellanos.
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